Author: C. M. McKenna
Genre: Dark, erotic, fiction
Release Date: 31 Aug 2015

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Tumblr / Goodreads
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My rating: 5 Stars

This is the first book by cara McKenan under her new pen name and it's very different and at the same time still similar to her previous erotic romance. 

Review

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My rating: 3 Stars

Synopsis

Review

 

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for Katie McGarry's NOWHERE BUT HERE!I It is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance and is a part of Katie McGarry’s Thunder Road Series, published by Harlequin Teen.

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both. 

Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They're the good guys. They protect people. They're…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member—is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down. 

No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.

     

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. Katie is the author of full length YA novels, Pushing the Limits, Dare You To, Crash Into You, Take Me On,  Breaking the Rules, and Nowhere But Here and the e-novellas, Crossing the Line and Red at Night. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.   

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Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Release Date: 26 May 2015
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Pre-order links: 

Amazon | B&N | BookDepository | iBooks | Indie | Kobo

*** *** ***

Why am I waiting for this? - I really enjoyed Ms McGarry's Pushing the Limits series. I read less YA/NA than I used to a couple of years ago, but realistic ficiton with a touch of romance is still a favourite of mine. I love how real the charcters in Pushing the Limits feel and how invested I get in their fate. Nowhere but Here is book 1 in new series and brings bikers/Motorcycle clubs in the world of YA/NA charcters. In short, I'm very much curious how Ms McGarry will make this connection and how real and authentic it will feel. 

What new releases are you most excited about? Leave me a comment and I'll stop by your blog to check out yout WoW post. 

Synopsis

When “crazy” runs in your family and your namesake is known for walking into a river with a pocket full of rocks, a girl kind of wants to avoid tempting fate at all costs. For Virginia Nichols, the only way to dodge that bullet is to be perfect at everything: school, student council, life. Too bad it’s all a lie, and underneath the perfection...Virginia is lost. 

Ryder Blackstock knows a thing or two about being born into fate. The talents passed down from his father aren't exactly normal; instead of learning how to throw a fastball, he was taught to hot-wire a car like a pro and pick any pocket in sight. He’s got criminal blood, just like his old man. And as soon as he turns eighteen, he’ll be living life on the run with his dad.

When Ryder and Virginia meet on the beach, it seems they couldn't be more different. Soon they discover they’re both trapped in their lives—Virginia denying her fate, Ryder embracing his. Like the rocks in Virginia Woolf’s pockets, the weight of their destinies will pull them under. But being together brings out pieces of themselves they didn't know existed—pieces that make them want to take fate into their own hands and rewrite their destinies...if it’s not too late.

Review

I loved her Games series and was intrigued by the blurb of this one but in the end I liked it but expected more.  It was not as good as I hoped it would be. It's YA/NA realistic fiction/romance a and I liked the idea of exploring what it's like for a child of a parent with a personality disorder but I felt the story lacked depth and was rather casual.

I found Virginia/Lulu an interesting character - her struggles with her mother's illness and her fears for her own mental health all felt real and easy to understand. This lead to an unhealthy need for control which also seemed realistic. I felt deeply for her struggles between what's right and should be done and her desire to be free, to find who she is, to explore the world - just like any other teenager at the cusp of adulthood.

Her romance with Ryder was sweet and tender but it didn't strike me as outstanding in any way. It was an opposites-attract kind of story and bore the marks of first (teenage) love. 

My main issue with the story was Ryder. He was a typical bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, convinced that he is destined to be a thief just like his father. I found his certainty in his criminal fate confusing and unrealistic. He was dreaming of becoming a criminal because he thought that was the only thing he was good at. It felt forced and unconvincing. He had a caring older brother, a tight group of friends whom he could rely on, so I really didn't see him as doom or desperate. 

It was his relationship with Virginia that helped him believe more in himself and ultimately act right and recognize the chance he had of being something more than a small-time criminal. Graduating high school and preparing for college and being adult can be scary and confusing, still I felt Ryder was acting rather childishly most of the story. 

On the plus side, I did like a lot his friends and the way Ms Dawn explores the complex relations between them - love and hurt and betrayal and loyalty. I really enjoyed this aspect of the story. 

This is the first book in a new YA/NA series by Nyrae Down and even though I didn't like it as much as I hoped, I'm curious about the rest of the books and very much willing to give them a try. 

Purchase links: Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

A summer road trip changes everything in this unforgettable new tale from acclaimed author Katie McGarry

For new high school graduate Echo Emerson, a summer road trip out west with her boyfriend means getting away and forgetting what makes her so... different. It means seeing cool sights while selling her art at galleries along the way. And most of all, it means almost three months alone with Noah Hutchins, the hot, smart, soul-battered guy who’s never judged her. Echo and Noah share everything — except the one thing Echo’s just not ready for.

But when the source of Echo’s constant nightmares comes back into her life, she has to make some tough decisions about what she really wants — even as foster kid Noah’s search for his last remaining relatives forces them both to confront some serious truths about life, love, and themselves.

Now, with one week left before college orientation, jobs and real life, Echo must decide if Noah's more than the bad-boy fling everyone warned her he'd be. And the last leg of an amazing road trip will turn... seriously epic.


Why am I waiting for this? - I like Ms MsGarry's writing and how realistically she presents her characters with all their insecurites, flaws and best features. I'm a big fan this series and Noah and Echo are one of my favourite couples. I'm excited to see them along the road literally (I love stories involving a road trip) and figuratively, as they get together as a couple. 

Title: Althea & Oliver
Author: Cristina Moracho
Genre: YA realistic fiction 

Release Date: 9 Oct 2014

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Pre-order: Amazon

Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.

Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good.

Why am I waiting for this? - I generally read adult books but I'm always willing to spice things up with a different genre. This YA realistic story sounds very interesting and I have great memories of the 1990s, so I expect it to be a good and entertaining read.

Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Title: Sway

Title: Red at Night

Author: Katie McGarry

Date of publication: 01 April 2014

Genre/Themes: Young adult, Romance, Realistic fiction, Novella

Author's links: Facebook / Website / Twitter / Goodreads

Purchase links: It's free - Amazon / B&N / Kobo

My rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis

In Red at Night, Stella and Jonah are total opposites. She's the girl with purple hair from the wrong part of town. He's a high school senior who hangs with the cool crowd. Until a car accident leaves him haunted by guilt, and Jonah starts spending time at Stella's favorite refuge…the local cemetery.

Stella knows she should keep her distance—after all, she spent her girlhood being bullied by Jonah's friends. Once he's sorted out his tangled emotions, Jonah won't have time for her anymore. Too bad she's already fallen for him.

It's a cute realistic YA romance written in the superb style of Ms McGarry's books. It's a tender story of first love between two teenagers facing difficult circumstances in life. They have to make a choice that will turn them into the people who they want to be.

Mini Review

The character development is rich and detailed. With just a few words Ms McGarry creates memorable and very likable heroes and heroines. Jonah and Stella have unique voices and their life situations are engagingly and convincingly presented. The story is told from a dual POV focusing on the inner struggles of the characters who are trying to find their place in life.

I liked how Jonah was not this super villain who turned into a good guy overnight. He kept silent in the face of injustice and that made him guilty, yet he was a basically just an ordinary teenager, unwilling to go against the his group of friends, afraid to disrupt his nice, peaceful life. He was a good guy who just needed a push to show his goodness to the world. An unfortunate accident served as this push which led him to Stella. It was their friendship-turned-to-love that brought the change in him to fruition.

Stella was a great character - really unique, enduring a tough family situation. She struggled between hope and dreams on the one hand, and the harsh reality of being on your on with no family to support you. I liked how strong and confident she was, yet at the same time, vulnerable and scared.

Both Jonah and Stella felt very real and easy to relate to. Ms McGarry is a master at creating realistic and intriguing characters with just a few words and making the reader care deeply about them. Despite the short length of the book I felt involved in Jonah and Stella's story and wanted for them to overcome all the difficulties life threw at them.

I just have one minor quibble with the story and it has to do with the volunteering episode. Jonah suddenly realized that there were many poor children and that Stella was one of them and he was outraged by that fact. His reaction didn't feel natural to me, the message against poverty came off as forced. 

It's a recommended read for fans of Ms McGarry's books and for anyone who likes a realistic YA story with good plot and great characters.

Note: This novella is part of Harlequin More Than Words and it celebrates the work of Goodie Two Shoes Foundation. You can check the harlequin site for similar novella offered for free. 

My reviews of other books by Katie McGarry:

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)

Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3)

Title: Life in Outer Space
Author: Melissa Keil
Date of publication: 1 Feb 2013
Genre: YA / Comedy / Realistic fiction

Author's links:
Website / Goodreads
My rating: 4 stars

It was sometimes hilarious, sometimes death serious and all of the time quirky and unusual YA book. It tells a story of first love and coming of age of a group of lovable misfits who struggle to find themselves and their place in the world.

The movie quotes and reference  at times came as too much me as someone who is not a fan of horrors and the Star wars saga. Still, it's a very well written story, funny and engaging, taking the reader on a journey in the the world of a group of  very lovable 16/17 year-old misfits. 

Th story is told from Sam's POV and I enjoyed voice a lot. He made sense of the world around him through the movies he was obsessed with and he was borderline OCD about his routine. So, when the new girl in school, Camilla, entered his life, she sent his whole world completely off axis and made him see himself and world in a completely different light. 

Camilla was just wonderful. I was worried that she came off as too good to be true at some point - she seemed perfect, well-adjusted, coping with life with a remarkable ease. Fortunately her perfection was gradually revealed to be just in the eyes of others, and Sam in particular. He saw her, as his complete opposite - someone who, unlike him, knew  how to fit in school and in life. Their friendship which turned into love, showed that she was just as lost and insecure as Sam and his friends. 

Sam's inner musings on life reflected perfectly the confusion of being a teenager. With a dry sense of humour the author made an adequate presentation of the sense of being at a loss, not understanding life, not knowing anything about yourself,  and the others, which is a phase most/all teenagers go through. 

The author has managed to create a very engaging story, realistic and funny at the same time with no excessive drama or dark secrets. All the characters were unique and unusual, yet I found it easy to relate to them and to understand their anxieties. 

I greatly recommend this book. It's funny and up-beat without being cheesy. It put a permanent smile on my face while reading it and it definitely made me feel optimistic and happy about my own life :)

Top Ten Worlds I'd Never Want to Live in and 

 Characters I'd Never Want to Trade Places with

I made a mixture of worlds I don't want to live in and characters I don't want to be. My list includes 6 dystopian worlds, 3 boy/girl couples I wouldn't trade places with and 1 lonely namesake, Ellie, whose story I like a lot but wouldn't want it to be mine.

The Divergent series - a world divided in fractions, set against one another - it's not a nice place to live

The Delirium series - I loved the first book, even though I am disappointed with way things ended in the final book. A world where love is considered a dangerous disease and people are cured of it by a form of lobotomy is definitely not the place for me

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series - vampires living among us (they are the good guys), lessers chasing them and people caught in the middle. The brothers are super hot alpha males and I love them but the blood-sucking is too much for me :)

The Hunger Games - no comments needed, I guess. 

The Legend series - another favourite series. A violent world where the individual life means nothings.

Rachel / Isaiah from Crash into You by Katie McGarry. He is a foster care child and she is the replacement child for a daughter that died. They find happiness together but still, I wouldn't to trade places with them.

Adam / Mia from If I Stay series by Gayle Forman - another happy couple in the end but the trauma they had to go through and survive is just too much

Carmine and Haven from the Forever series (Sempre) by J M. Darhower - he is destined to be the Heir in the Chicago mob and she is a slave. None of them has an easy life.

Ellie from The Artist Trilogy by Karina Halle - a con artist, betrayed by her own family, chased by a Mexican drug lord, Ellie has far too many battles to fight for her happiness.

What's on your TTT list today? Leave me a comment with a link and I'll stop by your blog to check it out :)

My friend Lexie over at Fastidious reader started an ARC Challenge 2013 together with Deniz from Closet Geeks and Slow Mo. The challenge is pretty simple - read and review at least 1, if possible two ARCs a week and it goes on till the end of this year. Since I am literally swamped with ARCs some of which I requested rather foolishly, I have to admit, I decided to join them. 

I have posted two ARC reviews this week:

Crash into You by Katie McGarry which I read a couple of weeks ago and I totally love it and - my review 

The Devil's Reprise by Karina Halle which was also rather good - my review

Next week I will be reviewing Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan and Sempre by J. M. Darhower. I have already finished the books, now I just need to write the reviews. I hope to start reading Castle Hill: A Joss and Braden Novella by Samantha Young and Jagged (Colorado Mountain 5) by Kristen Ashley. 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules: 

• Grab your current read 

• Open to a random page 

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

• Be careful not the include spoilers! 

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

My teaser this week is from Crash into You (Pushing the Limits 3) by Katie McGarry. It is a wonderful YA story of first love and serious real-life issues of foster care children, family expectations, life on the streets, and others. I really enjoyed it and think it is the best book in this series so far. I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. The book releases on Nov 26. 

"I wince internally at her word. Asking for anything on the streets is a cardinal sin. Asking nicely is basically serving your soul to the devil. God didn't send this angel to save me. He sent her as a sacrifice."

Goodreads Blurb

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Author's links:
Facebook / Website / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 3.5 Stars

Title: On Every Street (The Artists Trilogy #0.5)
Author: Karina Halle
Date of publication: 9 March 2013
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars

This 50K word (100+ pages) novella takes place six years before Sins & Needles. It can be read before or after Sins & Needles and may also be read as a standalone.




This is a prequel to Sins & Needles and tells the story of Ellie and Javier which happened six years before the events in Sins & Needles. It can be read before or after S&N or even as a standalone. I personally read it after S & N (following the order publication) and I think it works best in this way.

I liked On Every Street a lot but as much as S&N. It was written in the same engaging style and it carried the same vibe of raw emotions. Its focus was on issues of love and lust, revenge and forgiveness. I found it rather New Adult in nature, since both Ellie and Javier were very young and were in process of figuring out / accepting who they were. This was especially true for Ellie who made some very difficult choices trying to come to peace with her past and move on.

On the surface this was Javier's story, yet the book told us a lot about Ellie was well. I didn't particularly like who she was with Javier but I can relate to her desire to be with him, hence her acceptance of his ways. What we saw in this book was a much younger, more naive Ellie, just a young girl searching for her place in the world. Her relationship with Javier ultimately led the final loss of innocence for both of them.

The book did show why Javier acted the way he did in S&N but that still didn't endear him to me. Ellie started her relationship with him  for all the wrong reasons and based it on a lie, yet I think what he did to her was unforgivable, there are no excuses for his actions in my mind.

On Every Street is a must read for fans of Sins & Needles since it provides an essential background to the story and shows the Ellie and Javier in a different light, revealing yet another layer of their complex personalities.

PS: Since I am very much Team Camden in this series, one possible reason I didn't enjoy On Every Street as much as S & N is the fact that Camden was not present in it. Just saying :)

Title: Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy #2)

Author: Karina Halle

Date of publication: 20 Aug 2013

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb

Sometimes the right choice can be the deadliest.

When Ellie Watt made the ultimate sacrifice for Camden McQueen, she never thought it would be easy. But walking away with her ex-lover, Javier Bernal, in order to ensure Camden’s safety has brought a whole new set of dangers. With Javier’s plans for Ellie growing more secretive by the moment, Ellie must find a way to stay ahead of the game before her past swallows her whole.

Meanwhile, Camden’s new life is short-lived. Fueled by revenge and pursued by authorities, he teams up with an unlikely partner in order to save Ellie. But as Camden toes the line between love and retribution, he realizes that in order to get back the woman he loves, he may have to lose himself in the process. He might just turn into the very man he’s hunting.

My Review

Goodreads Blurb

Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents' latest scam. Now she’s much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for – Camden McQueen. Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie’s counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she’s not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie’s plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn’t dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it’s one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road.

My Review

I started this book back in February but they I put it down for later because I just couldn't get into it. I guess it was just the wrong time for me to read it and when I got back to it a last week I couldn't put it down. I liked it so much that I had to continue with the series right away and that is exactly what I did. You can read my reviews of On Every Street and Shooting Scars later this week.

It is difficult for me to define the genre of this series - it is contemporary, realistic fiction with some hot romance (or is it lust/true love?) and a lot of action scenes. There are some rare books which I see as movies while reading them and Sins and Needles fits right into this category. It would make a great movie - entertaining and thought provoking at the same time, provided it is done right.

It is not dark or twisted book, it is a raw and honest story exploring the boundaries of good and bad. Both Ellie and Camden have their demons to fight with, neither of them is just good or bad, basically they are just people with issues who struggle in a tough world, trying to do right thing for themselves.

I really liked the writing style of Ms Halle. It is succinct and to-the-point which makes it very powerful and emotionally charged. She created complex characters who through their thoughts and actions force the reader to re-think his/her own moral code and values. Neither Ellie, nor Camden are easily lovable, I loved them and hated them, felt sorry for them and appalled by some of the things they did. 

I haven't mentioned Javier who is the third major player in this series. In Sins and Needles he was definitely the bad guy and the author didn't show anything that could redeem him. His story is told in the prequel On Every Street and as can be expected with Ms Halle, things are never just black or white.

It is a very character driven story, yet it is full of plot twists which just keep you reading on, never knowing what will happen next. There is a lot of action packed in it as well which coupled with the characters emotions gives a very realistic and believable feel to the whole story.

I especially liked all the music references Ms Halle included in this book. They add a whole new layer to the story which music lovers, rock fans in particular, will certainly enjoy.

This series is of the addictive you-can't-put-me-down kind, so starting it be ready for a roller coaster of emotions and an urgent need to read the conclusion of the story. The final book, Bold Tricks, will be released on 15 Oct, which just can't come soon enough!